You are here

Winx makes it 15 on end

Mike Hedge

Winx, the world’s second highest-rated racehorse, has laid down a challenge for the No.1 position with a 15th successive victory.

Already the world’s best filly or mare and the best turf horse in training, Winx cruised to a two-length win in the G1 Chipping Norton Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.

It was a performance that would have been routine on a dry track, but on a surface softened by a day of persistent rain, her trainer Chris Waller admitted he had given thought to taking her out of the race.

But neither the track nor the opposition bothered Winx as she collected her 10th G1 victory and lifted her racetrack earnings to almost A$10-million with another totally dominant performance.

Winx settled in midfield, four lengths off the lead and with 700m to run, jockey Hugh Bowman allowed her to slide around the field and then run to the front at the 300m.

From there it was a procession as the daughter of Street Cry sliced the Randwick mud to easily hold the runner-up Lasqueti Spirit.

The Godolphin runner Magic Hurricane finished fourth, a nose behind Who Shot The Barman with Hartnell in eighth place after appearing uncomfortable in the going.

Waller said the pressure had affected him more than his horse.

"That was pretty special. It was different, completely different. That's more pressure than I've felt since the early days,” Waller said.

“She was amazing.”

Winx will now head to Rosehill on Saturday week for the G1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) before running in the A$4-million G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick three weeks later.

Waller and the mare’s owners will then consider an international campaign which could include a series of European races.

Should she continue her winning run until the end of her Autumn campaign, Winx would close the already narrow gap between her and the world’s highest-ranked horse, Arrogate.